LA LA LAND

(Very) early tuesday morning, I texted a friend to tell her that one of my favorite 2016 movies had gotten a Golden Globe. To which she replied “hope it’s not La la land” and I almost tripped on the escalator on my way to work thinking “well, what’s wrong with La la land?” I remember liking the poster mainly for the bright yellow dress

and thinking “ooooh, I wonder what this is all about”. And then reading enough to find out but not so much as to spoil it, I thought : “it’s SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN meets THE ARTIST à la XXIst century”.

So when my friend Nic asked “don’t suppose you fancy seeing La la Land film?” she got a very unexpected enthusiatic YES YES YES. So tonight, defying the wind and sleet and English ‘snow’ off to the CURZON we went and…

and…. the movie is a rollercoaster of emotions; it starts almost on a high with the funny song “another day of sun”, which made me long for a winter in LA. It is witty, tender, unforgiving when showing the superficial side of Hollywood, beautifully shot, full of vivid colors (the girls’ apartment is ravishing with all the movie memorabilia), the costumes are unforgettable (even the “polyester suit”) but it’s also heart-breaking, which I didn’t expect (won’t spoil it for you). When it ended, I couldn’t help saying “noooo noooo nooo” as if it would make any difference; but i guess the reality of life in 2016 has shifted a lot since the heydays of musicals, when and where things seemed to work out just perfectly, always…

The performances are superb; Emma Stone is so funny when lipsynching I RAN, Ryan Gosling so touching when he tried to explain why he joined a certain band.